Kukoc Holding His Own As Starter, But . . .

Bulls' Defensive Woes Could Send Him Back To Bench

The look of anguish has become an almost permanent expression. His perfectionist ways, a burden so heavy it makes his shoulders slump.

And through it all, Toni Kukoc is having some of his best days as a Bull.

Perhaps he is simply destined to be overshadowed, whether by performances on the court or happenings off it. Or perhaps his maturation as an NBA player is still in the painful stage. Whatever the case, after a nine-game stint as a starter in a position for which he is ill-suited, he may be back to the second unit as Bulls coach Phil Jackson grapples for solutions to a .500 record.

It may not be permanent. In fact, it probably won't be. And if there is a change, it could even mean moving Kukoc to a guard spot and demoting Ron Harper or even B.J. Armstrong. But after a demoralizing defeat to Washington, in which Kukoc was victimized at the power forward spot by Juwan Howard, and looking ahead to an offensive-fueled team in the Milwaukee Bucks, who come into the United Center on Wednesday night, Jackson hinted strongly at inserting Corie Blount in place of Kukoc.

"We're 36 games into the season and we have a lot of space and a lot of time left," Jackson said. "The quickest adjustment is to change the starting lineup. We need to go bigger, stronger and quicker out there defensively, so we have a better presence."

In Blount's defense, Jackson said: "He's a defensive player. He goes out and he has that mindset of a guy who wants to stop people on defense, and that's one of the things that will help us against a team like Milwaukee."

No one has a problem with Kukoc's offensive contributions. Excluding the Washington loss, in which he was an uncharacteristic 2 of 12 for five points while playing on a sore right ankle, Kukoc has flourished as a starter. In his eight straight starts (he also started one game earlier in the season), he is averaging 20 points on 54-percent shooting and some would say holding his own inside against the likes of Rodney Rogers, Kevin Willis and even Shawn Kemp.

"We do rely on him," said Jackson. "It has taken Scottie out of the situation of having to be a scorer because Toni is probably a little better scorer than Scottie is in a lot of ways. He has a shot and a drive, so it's taken a little bit of the load off our starting team to have to score."

No, Pippen and Kukoc playing together on the offensive end is not what is hurting the Bulls, as is commonly believed. "This whole thing is a defensive thing," Jackson said. "A lot of people don't understand that Scottie and Toni have no problem in on-the-ball, off-the-ball situations. They both look for each other.

"It's all how they're going to help, how they're going to play defense, how we're going to rebound, how we're going to stop people, how we're going to recover. I said that on opening day and it's still my statement 36 games into the year." No one is pretending that Kukoc is a power forward or that the Bulls aren't desperately missing a certain goggled former power foward every day. Unfortunately for Kukoc, he is the proverbial square peg through no real fault of his own.

"It isn't my natural position but what can I do?" he shrugged. "I have to go out and play my best and I think I'm improving."

Is it, however, fair to even ask him to develop into a power forward? "Unfortunately for Toni," offered Will Perdue, "he's a 6-10 guy who's better out on the perimeter. But we're asking him to play in the paint when he does play forward, and to guard guys bigger than him with his back to the basket."

Jackson has no trouble admitting it's a stretch. "It's not a part of his instinct," he said. "He has an instinct to leak out, to slide out, not to come back to the boards once he's on the outside. We're trying to make a power forward out of a kid with a guard mentality."

So Kukoc, the former Croatian star in his second season with the Bulls, is back to being the victim. And that shows with a growing sullenness toward the media and a growing surliness toward officials.

"He's kind of in a weird situation because he's considered a foreigner," Perdue said. "He's kind of an outsider trying to prove he belongs here and sometimes with the pressure that's put on Toni, he goes his own separate way. He's not a very emotional person. When he plays well and scores a lot, you don't seem to get a reaction out of him either."

If indeed he is put back on the bench, Kukoc isn't likely to take that very well either, as he has continually expressed his preference for starting and taking on more responsibility. But Jackson said Kukoc's continued progress and that of the entire team's may necessitate another look at that take-charge mentality.

"Unfortunately, he has a high regard for himself," said Jackson. "A lot of these kids do. But I think it stands in his way occasionally. What we're trying to get across to him is to ask, `What can I do to help this basketball club?' Not, `How are my stats today?' or `How do I look?' or `How can I make an impression?'

"I talked to a very talented team about this same issue four or five years ago and yet the same ugly head rears itself every year and I think it's one of our problems on this basketball club now. They want to do it on their own and you just don't get it done in this game with that attitude."